PK blow sparks Plymouth woes

Plymouth Gladiators     55

R.E.D Bandits, powered by STS      35

Another frustrating road trip to Devon saw the Bandits fail to get to grips with a dusty track in this cup final dress rehearsal.

To add to their problems – largely an inability to get out of the gate – Peter Kildemand was added to the Bandits’ injury roll call, withdrawing with a hand injury after a fall in his second ride.

Bright spots were battling performances from Victor Palovaara and Jordan Jenkins, the way Reid Battye battled to conquer one of speedway’s trickiest track on his first visit to The Coliseum and a steady return from Oxford’s Luke Killeen, guesting for Nick Morris.

As for the Knockout Cup Final? Really there was little learned with both sides missing key riders and Bandits’ fans will believe that they have a good chance of claiming tne aggregate point when the teams meet at Shielfield Park in two weeks’ time.

Michael Palm Toft had a torrid evening guesting for skipper Jye Etheridge, the only time he made the gate the race was called back by referee Phil Griffin and then he was rounded by both Anze Grmek and Joe Thompson, Battye sliding off on the third bend, in the rerun.

It was one of a series of frustrating incidents for the visitors although they did catch a huge break in the original running of heat eight, the red lights calling Scunthorpe’s Dane back meaning Battye’s second bend slide off was unpunished.

A scorching hot day in Devon and blinding sunshine made conditions tricky and gating was always going to be vital.

Acting skipper Kildemand’s twitch penalised him badly in the first heat and it took until the last lap to find a way to cut back inside Thompson for second place.

Battye gated well in two but Grmek found a way past the Australian who almost threw away second place when he came perilously close to the fence coming off the last bend.

Heat three was one of those farcical races which seem to be a trademark of a night at the unique Plymouth raceway.

Palovaara was the only rider to see the red lights as referee Phil Griffin took exception to the original start. It took the other three and the flag marshals the best part of two laps to get the message.

Plymouth were on a 5-1 at the time and they were again in the rerun courtesy of a huge, unpunished, Daniel Klima flier but the Czech shed a chain and fell on the last lap, Griffin ordering a second rerun as Jordan Jenkins had forced his way past Thompson in the run to the flag but the red lights had come on as he made the move.

At the third time of asking Palovaara clamped Thompson tight on the first bend, the Gladiator managing to block the challenge of Jenkins to give the Bandits a heat advantage.

Battye made another fine start in four and did amazingly well to control a huge wheelie coming out of bend two, Scott Nicholls biding his time to pass the Australian, Killeen forcing his way through to share the points.

Heat five effectively ended Berwick’s chances as Klima dived up the inside of Kildemand with the Dane falling heavily. The exclusion was a disappointment, the hand injury which ended his night a disaster.

And in his absence the Bandits’ challenge fell apart.

Jenkins and Palovaara did their bit to stem the flow of Plymouth points. They also got the better of Nicholls in heat seven only for the race to be called back, the former British Champion getting away with a flier in the rerun and forcing his way past Jenkins down the back straight.

Tactical substitute Palovaara and Killeen were on the wrong end of another Nicholls burst down the back straight in nine but there was a second 4-2 for the visitors in heat 10 which saw the busy Palovaara deal with Batchelor while Jenkins took another useful point.

Battye replaced the out of sorts Palm Toft and again wasn’t afraid to put himself about behind the imperious Nicholls, effectively mugging Grmek down the back straight, Killeen following his team-mate for the night through for another shared heat.

Smith demolished the tapes in 12 and was forced to go off 15 metres to get his compulsory third ride in the book. The rerun was a real rollercoaster for Palovaara who both led and was on the wrong end of a 5-1 before eventually passing reserve Ben Whalley to restrict the damage.

Predictably Batchelor and Batchelor collected a heat 13 maximum before Jenkins became the second Bandits’ race winner of the night, forcing his way past Klima in another rerun race after Battye again slid off on the third bend.

Nicholls produced two more huge fliers in heat 15 but was only penalised for one as he completed his maximum, Jenkins ending in a heap in the first running and unable to force his way past either of the Gladiators who ended the evening with another maximum.

Without their number one Berwick were never going to trouble the home side. The efforts of Palovaara, Jenkins and in particular Battye bode well for the next visit to The Coliseum for the cup final. As does the extra bite that Jye Etheridge and Nick Morris would surely have supplied.

The trick will be getting all seven on-track whenever the tie is raced.

Gladiators: Troy Batchelor 10+2, Joe Thompson 8+1, Daniel Klima 8, Ben Barker R/R, Scott Nicholls 18, Anze Grmek 9+2, Ben Whalley 2

Bandits: Peter Kildemand 2, Michael Palm Toft 2, Victor Palovaara 11+2, Jordan Jenkins 7, Luke Killeen 7+2, Jack Smith 0, Reid Battye 6

Pictures: Keith Hamblin